


I Fell

by Ghostinthehouse



Series: Demon and Angel Professors [68]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Professors, Disabled Crowley (Good Omens), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Minor Injuries, Nonbinary Character, Other, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23536021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostinthehouse/pseuds/Ghostinthehouse
Summary: A long figure loomed up out of the twilight, and Dr Crowley said, "You're going to have a spectacular black eye. What happened?"One-shot
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Demon and Angel Professors [68]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1412962
Comments: 67
Kudos: 1213





	I Fell

Luc only realised where eir feet had brought em when the greenhouse loomed up in front of em. Ey hesitated a long moment. It wasn't exactly protection that ey needed, but then again ey didn't want to deal with Dr Fell fussing over them if ey went there. Then again, last time ey had gone to Dr Fell for advice, he had brought em here after all.

A long figure loomed up out of the twilight, and Dr Crowley said, "You're going to have a spectacular black eye. What happened?"

To eir horror, that even that tiny scrap of kindness set em shaking. Luc swallowed hard. "I fell."

Dr Crowley's eyebrows went up, high above his glasses. "You fell," he repeated, flatly.

Luc heard the disbelief in that flatness and looked down, bracing emself against the torrent of vicious questions that were surely about to dissect eir status, intelligence, worth, etc.

The questions didn't come. Instead, Dr Crowley simply raked his gaze over em, and then wrapped a surprisingly gentle hand around Luc's arm and led em through the greenhouse to a small side-room that held a sink, a kettle, and two old chairs.

This close, Luc could feel the subtle unevenness in his gait, the slight hitch in his saunter, the way he almost invisibly favoured one leg.

"What happened?" Luc asked, hesitantly perching on one of the chairs.

Dr Crowley gave em a long look. Then the corner of his mouth twitched and he said with deliberate dry irony, "I fell."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. Don't worry about it." He dug a clean cloth out of a cupboard, soaked it to make a cold compress and handed it over.

Luc pressed it gingerly to eir sore eye.

"Anything else hurt when you - fell?"

"I don't think so..." There had been a singing hollow of silence between Sandy's fist hitting em and em hitting the floor. It had been a break from the stinging words, but Luc couldn't afford to move yet again, not without the guarantor ey'd lost when ey had been outed to eir parents.

"I'm going to assume you don't want anyone official involved," Dr Crowley said, slouching into the other chair, "since you're here rather than anywhere else. Are you going back?"

Luc shrugged. "Nowhere else to go and my stuff's there."

Dr Crowley regarded em for a long moment and then asked in an oddly gentle tone, "Do you _want_ to go back?"

"I-" The words wouldn't come.

"Because," Dr Crowley went on, relentlessly gentle, "those things can be resolved if you don't."

Dr Fell murmured from the doorway, "Another duckling, dearest?"

Luc whipped round, and winced as the movement pulled at old bruises. "Duckling?"

"The Ugly Duckling fairy tale, dear. He only gets abused so much because they're all trying to force him to be something he isn't. When he's supported in being what he really is, he starts to thrive. It resonates rather well, I've found."

"Ohhhh."

Dr Crowley retrieved the cold compress from where it had fallen when Luc turned and replaced it with a fresh one. "If you're worried about shocking us, don't be. We've been around a long time. Between the two of us, there isn't much we haven't seen before in some form."

Dr Fell smiled gently, velvet over steel. "I assure you, I'm not nearly as innocent as I look. Nor is Anthony as mean."

"Now then, angel, I have a reputation to maintain, thank you very much!" Dr Crowley scolded back, though his smile was fond, and there was no bite to the words.

Luc grasped what little courage ey had left. "No," ey whispered. "I don't want to go back."

Both professors nodded simultaneously. Dr Crowley reached for his phone. Dr Fell simply stepped forward and opened his arms. When Luc hesitantly sank into the offered hug, it felt as if a guardian angel had wrapped em in soft protective wings and nothing could hurt em anymore.


End file.
